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Pergunta: O que é o valor de uma apresentação ritual?
Question: What is the value of a ritual presentation?
Ritual forms are a useful teaching tool in a semi-literate society
Nada na Maçonaria é divino e de fato, a Maçonaria tem rejeitado toda e qualquer tentativa de ser representada como religião. Entretanto, rituais maçônicos são muito úteis como uma ferramenta de ensino, particularmente em situações como as encontradas em Nauvoo no ano de 1840, onde muitos membros não podiam ler. The 1850 Illinois census was the first to gather data on literacy. According to the aggregate data taken from the census, in 1850 almost 11% of all white adults 20 and older in Illinois couldn't read or write. [1]
Literacy was higher in the East. However, the literacy of the populous areas to the east is a poor marker for what it would have been on the western frontier. Women in particular often had markedly lower literacy rates than men. This lower literacy rate for women was also true of the western frontier, with some affidavits from women in Nauvoo signed with an X: they couldn't even write their own names. Even in 1870, 24 years after the exodus from Nauvoo, 11.5% of the total white population of the United States over age 14 was functionally illiterate. [2] Consider also the introduction of immigrant groups among the Saints from Scandinavia and other countries.
Thus, a participatory form of teaching the temple concepts makes perfect sense. Utilizando rituais encontrados na Maçonaria como uma ferramenta para ensinar uma mensagem divina é com o que estamos lidando aqui.
Notas
- Ir para cima ↑ Illinois Census 1850: A) Total population: 851,470. This is made up of 1) Total white males: 445,544 2) Total white females: 400,490 3) Total free colored (male and female): 5,436. White adult males unable to read and write: 16,633. White adult females unable to read and write: 23,421. off-site
- Ir para cima ↑ "Literacy from 1870 to 1979," National Center for Education Statistics.
Os sinais servem para demonstrar nossa fidelidade aos convênios, um ponto central tanto na investidura como no ritual maçônico. Deus não necessita deles, nós precisamos deles, ou mais precisamente, precisamos dos convênios que eles representam. Eles nos ajudam a aprender a ser fiéis para o que desejamos ser.